Outlet device for grain cars



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H. G. FERGUSON. OUTLET DEVICE FOR GRAIN CARS. APPLICATION FILED DEC.6. 1920.

1,410,743. Patented Mar. 28,1922.

5/93 050/? Q) g @w c 3i I 92 UNITED STATES PAT- ur creme.

. HENRY G. FERGUSON, F H UTCH INSQN, KANSAS.

OUTLET DEVICE FOR igaiogzee.

To all whom it may concerto.

Be it known that I, HENRY G. FERGUSON, 'a citizen of the United States of America,

I and a resident of Hutchinson, in the county ofReno and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Outlet Devices for Grain Cars, of which the 1 following is a full, clear, and exactidescriptioii, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification. I This invention relates to improvements in outletdevi ces for grain cars, and more particularly to a device whereby grain may be discharged through the floor of a grain car so as; to relieve thegrain pressure on the ordinary grain door, thus allowing the grain door'to be readily removed, or otherwise opened, withoutv mutilating or in damaging the grain doo g v Attempts have been made to devise a practicalmeansfor discharging grain through the floor of acar for the purpose of 'relievingthe grain pressure on the ordinary vertical grain doors at the sides of the car, but so far as I am aware this has never been done inaetual practice. The outlet device in any way I the floor should not in any way interfere withithe use of "the car for other freight in. addition to grain it should not form either a projection or-depression in the floor of the car;:it should be strong enough to Withstand severe shocks which may be caused by thedropping of heavy objects onto the 1 car.

device, and to completely solve this particular problem, the new device must not be in any way obj ectionable in an ordinary freight My objectfis to produce an absolutely practical grain outlet device of this kind meeting all of the service requirements and having no disadvantages which would prevent its use in an ordinary freight car.

Briefly stated, the new device comprises a strong and simple metal door frame which lies flush with the floor of the car, a strong sliding door mounted in said metal door frame so as to also he flush with the car floor, and a discharge spout leading from said door frame to the side of the car. The invention lies in theforegoing elements and in certainspecific details of construction cooperating with each other to provide a simple solution of this particular problem.

Specificationof Letters Patent; P t nted'Mar. 28, 1922. Application filed December 6, 1920. Serial No. 428,558.

2 the intermediate sill, and 3 the horizontal car floor resting on said sills. 4 designates one of the ordinary posts (Fig. I) which form the sidewalls of the doorway in the freight car, and 5 is an ordinary vertical grain door adapted to engage the inner face of the door posts. This ordinary grain door 5 maybe nailed-to the door posts, or it may beslidable vertically. Although both of these typesof grain doors 5 arewell known in the art, it is customary to nail the grain door to the door .pos'ts,instead of using the type which movesvertically along the door posts.

However, in the use of either type of grain door, the door itselfis subjected to the'outward pressure of the grain in the car, and considerable difficulty has been experienced in opening such doors. It is usual to cut an opening in the lower portion of the grain door for the purpose ofpermittingescape of the grain adjacent to the door, thereby relieving the grain pressure and permitting freeremoval ofthe door. 1

The new device includes a frame, or guide member, A flush with the top face of the car floor, and a s'lidable door B mounted in the frame "A. The sliding door B is also flush with the horizontal top face of the car floor 3. A. discharge opening 7 V is formed in the car floor at a point directly below the door and this door B may be moved to the right from the position shown in Fig. I, for the purpose of discharging grain into a spout S below the car floor.

The metal door frame A comprises a horizontal web 8 below the top of the floor, side members 9 at opposite sides of the door B, and a rear member 10 at the rear of the door. These elements 8, 9 and 10, are integrally connected together, and they may be conveniently made of cast iron, or cast steel. The'side members 9 are provided with longitudinal grooves for the reception of flanges 11 which extend from the sides of the metal into the registering grooves.v the door frame members 9 and 10,s"o as to prevent leakage of grain through the discharge open mgr; The door frame A is open at the side of the car, so the door B can be moved to the right from the position shown in Fig. I, to allow the discharge of grain through the opening 7 in the car floor. The horizontal web .8, forming part; of the, door frame, is provided with an opening which registers with the discharge opening 7 in the floor.

The topv of the wooden floor 8 is recessed around the discharge opening 7 to receive the door frame A which lies flush with the top of the floor. Screws 13 may be used to secure the door frame to'the floor, as shown in Figs. I. and III These screws pass through flanges at the side and rear mar gins ofthe door frame. V At the front of my auxiliaryoutlet device,.portions of the floor 3, side sill 1 and sidingl l may be cut-away toreceive a locking device whereby the door maybesecured in-;it s closed position to prevent accidental displacement thereof- Aflange 15, extendingdownwardly from the front of the door frame,- is-provided at its lower end with a forwardly extending keeper :16, and a flange 1,7 which extends downwardly from the front end of the door is slotted-at 19 to receive the keeper16; As shown in Figs. I

and II, the keeper-'16 extends through slot 18 for the purpose of sealing the door Bin its closed position. In addition to locking the door B in its closed position when the freight car is used for the shipment of grain, the locking device just referred to also prevents accidental opening ofthe door B when the freight car is used for other purposes.

Toprevent removal of the door'B, a stop member 22 extendsrdownwardly from the rear portion of the door, and when this door is moved toits open position, the said stop member engages an abutment 23 on the web. 8, so as to limit the movement of the door;

The sectional spout S comprises a U- shaped sheet metal intake member 24:, lo-' rated between the sills 1 and 2, and having outwardly turned top flanges 25- attached to the bottom of the floor 3 by means of nails, or other suitable attaching devices.

'Outwardly turned side flanges 26, extending fronrthe intake member 2%, are secured to the sills 1 and 2 respectively by means of nails, or the like, and a lower flange 27 is secured to the bottom of the intermediate sill 2. The bottom of the intake member 2 1 is inclined downwardly fromthe intermediate sill 2 to a'point below the side sill 1. 28 designatesthe U-shaped discharge member lapping the lower portion of intake member 24 to form a continuation thereof,-said discharge member having outwardly turned top flanges 29 attached to the bottom of the side sill. The grain passing through the discharge opening 7 drops onto the intake member 24: whereby it is conduct'edtothe open discharge member 28 at the side of the car.

I claim: 1

o l. A grain car provided with a floor having a discharge opening, a metal door-frame arranged in'a horizontal position flush with the top of said floor, a horizontally movable doorslidably mounted'in said door frame to close said discharge opening, the topof said door being directly above said opening and flush with said floor and door-frame and a locking device whereby said door is secured directly to said metal door-frame, said locking device comprising a keeper extending from the outerend of said door frame, a flange extending downwardly from the outer end of said door to receive said keeper and a locking pin carried by said flange and adapted toenter said keeper. 2. A grain car provided witha floor having-a discharge opening, a metal door frame comprising a horizontal web below the top butabove the bottom of said floor and marginal guide members'flush with the top of the floor, said 'web beingintegi'al with said marginal guide members and provided with an opening registering with said discharge opening, said metaldoor frame being thinner than said floor, andthe top of said floor being recessed to receive said'frame, a horizontal door mounted above said web and having -ma-rginal side flanges which extend into said guide members, the top of said door 7 outwardly turned side flanges attached to the resp-ective silis, the bottom of said intake member being inclined downwardly from'said intermediate sill to a point below said side sill,; and a U-shaped discharge member lapping said intake member to form a continuation thereof, said discharge mem ber'having outwardly .turned top flanges ginal flanges members, the with the top which extend into said guide top of said door being flush of said door frame and also 10 with said floor.

In testimon hereunto aflix y that I claim the foregoing I my si nature. HEN Y G. FERGUSON. 

